


The Psychology of Love

by Adinskel



Category: To All the Boys I've Loved Before Series - Jenny Han, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
Genre: Lara Jean isn't actually in this one sorry, Peter is just in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 21:39:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15827451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adinskel/pseuds/Adinskel
Summary: After Lara Jean and Peter get (back?) together, it understandably takes Peter a while to get back home, something that irks his younger brother, Owen. This is the conversation between Owen and Peter that occurs after Peter finally gets home.





	The Psychology of Love

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written fanfic in quite some time, but the movie was just too cute to resist! This is also way shorter than I wanted it to be; I just had to write it down as soon as possible (and hopefully get back into the groove of writing).

When Peter finally got home from lacrosse, way later than usual, his smile was so large Owen half expected it to make his face tear in half. Owen scowled at his brother. Happiness is one thing, but in excess can be quite annoying, especially considering Peter spent the last week moping in bed. “Mom and I ate dinner without you.”

“Yeah, well I ate dinner without you too.” The dopey look on Peter’s face didn’t waver, the look that he only got when thinking about Lara Jean.

“Back with your girlfriend?” Owen asked from the top of the stairs. He didn’t roll his eyes, but he hoped the tone of his voice conveyed an eye roll well enough. “I don’t get it, you were never like this with Gen.”

“Owen, I’ve liked Lara Jean since I was your age,” Peter said as he walked up the steps, as if he hadn’t been dating someone else for most of that time span. “I liked Gen well enough, and she was pretty, but I didn’t ever have a crush on her, you know?”

No, Owen didn’t know. Owen did his best to avoid crushes and it worked out pretty well for him. And why you would date someone you don’t like like made even less sense. Peter turned around and sat on the top step, legs splayed out lazily across at least five stairs below that. Owen got the feeling he was expected to stay and that Peter would start either monologuing relationship advice or rambling about how great Lara Jean was. He sat down, resigned to his fate of listening to his older brother’s speech.

“We learned about this thing in psych class about how one theory of relationship stuff is that you’ll only ask out people you think have a decent chance of saying yes. She was just so far removed from that sort of thing that when Gen asked me out I figured she was the best I was gonna get.”

“You had literally kissed Lara Jean a week before,” Owen said, purely to get a rise out of Peter. Peter was kind of predictable that way.

“A week isn’t that short of a time frame in seventh grade!”

“I’m in sixth grade and I can tell you that it’s short.”

“Not my fault that you’re smarter than me,” Peter grumbled. “Anyway, spin the bottle doesn’t count; I didn’t know that she liked me. So I said yes when Gen asked me out. And then it just kinda… never stopped. Until it did, of course, but that was way later than I expected. And in all that time, Lara Jean never seemed like the kind of person who would say yes if I asked her out.”

“You would’ve left Gen for another girl?”

A horrified look crossed Peter’s face. “Oh god you’re right that does make me sound like Dad. I definitely wouldn’t have cheated on Gen with Lara Jean or anything. I probably would’ve broken up with Gen if Lara Jean seemed like a possibility of being an option, because then I would have realized sooner that I didn’t really like Gen and I was just with her for convenience. Like, pulling a Dad isn’t okay, but you also shouldn’t be in a relationship you don’t want to be in. Does that make sense?”

“Sorta.”

Something lit up in Peter’s eyes, and Owen knew what was coming just before it hit. “But let me tell you, dating someone that you have a crush on and has a crush on you back? It’s the best thing ever.” Owen groaned, and Peter rolled over onto his stomach and slid down a few stairs so he was facing Owen. “Dating is basically just spending extra time with the person that makes you happy. Speaking of which, you got any special friends at school?” Peter asked, complete with an eyebrow waggle. Owen shoved Peter away playfully, hiding his face at the turn of conversation. Unfortunately, an unathletic sixth-grader is no match for a high school lacrosse star, and Peter didn’t budge. Owen had a feeling Peter wouldn’t budge on the topic either, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t avoid it as long as possible.

“Oh, would you look at the time! I’m a young sixth-grader with school tomorrow, I better get ready for bed!” And he ran for his room before Peter could get off the floor.


End file.
